download pdf

BUCCINIDAE 23 3
Former distinct varices present every % of a whorl. Sculpture very finely
cancellate and beaded. Nucleus brown, smooth and bulbous. Shell ash-gray
with occasional orange-brown smudges. Uncommonly dredged on rocky
bottom just ofi'shore.
Colubraria testacea Morch from Tortugas and the West Indies is %
to 1% inches in length, fatter, with numerous, small beads and with wider
varices. C. sivifti Tryon (subgenus Monostiohnn Dall), also from the West
Indies, is % inch long, without former varices, axially ribbed and heavily
maculated with brown. Both are uncommon.
Genus Pisania Bivona-Bernardi 1832
Fisania pusio Linne Miniature Triton Trumpet
Southeast Florida and the West Indies.
Plate 13-0
I to 1% inches in length, sturdy, smooth, and usually with a glossy
finish. The outer lip is weakly toothed within, and the upper parietal wall
has a small, white, swollen tooth near the top of the aperture. Color variable,
but usually purplish brown with narrow spiral bands of irregular dark and
light spots commonly chevron-shaped. Moderately common below low-
water line in the region of coral reefs.
Genus Cantharus Roding 1798
Subgenus Pollia Sowerby 1834
Cantharus tmctits Conrad Tinted Cantharus
North Carolina to both sides of Florida and the West Indies.
Plate 25y
% to I /4 inches in length, heavy, spire evenly conic; aperture with a
small canal at the top. Axial ribs low and weak. Spiral cords numerous and
weak, forming weak beads as they cross the ribs. Inside of outer lip with
small teeth which are strongest near the top. Color of shell variegated with
yellow-brown, blue-gray and milky-white. Fairly common in shallow water.
The young are easily confused with Thais. See remarks under T. rustica,
p. 214.
Cantharus auritula Link Gaudy Cantharus
Southeast Florida and the West Indies.
Similar to C. tinctus, but broader, with shouldered whorls, with about
9 stronger axial ribs per whorl and with about 10 sharp spiral threads on